The Comic-Con volunteer working the registration desk has seen most every character in the universe pick up their badge, from the Green Lantern to Alice in Wonderland. “But it was the girl in the French maid outfit carrying an Uzi had me scratching my head,” she says. “Bless her, but her generous body just wasn’t built for that get-up.” Yet that is Comic-Con — a celebration of secret joys made public. And while its geek growth has made it a target of Letterman and Leno, genre lovers come here to be loved no matter how they look.